UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Purchases 2,597 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 26.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,283 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,597 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of VRSK traded down $0.19 on Wednesday, reaching $298.42. 192,709 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 757,147. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $291.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $281.87. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $306.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

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Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $299.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verisk Analytics Company Profile

Verisk Analytics, Inc provides data analytics and technology solutions to the insurance markets in the United States and internationally. It offers policy language, prospective loss costs, policy writing and rating rules, and various underwriting solutions for risk selection and segmentation, pricing, and workflow optimization; property- and auto- specific rating and underwriting information solutions that allows clients to understand, quantify, underwrite, mitigate, and avoid potential loss for risks; catastrophe modeling solutions, which enables companies to identify, quantify, and plan for the financial consequences of catastrophes for use by insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries, financial institutions, and governments.